General Blood Cancers

Approximately every 3 minutes one person in the United States (US) is diagnosed with a blood cancer.

An estimated combined total of 176,200 people in the US are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2019.

New cases of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are expected to account for 10 percent of the estimated 1,762,450 new cancer cases diagnosed in the US in 2019.

Prevalence

Prevalence is the estimated number of people alive on a certain date in a population who previously had a diagnosis of the disease. An estimated 1,399,180 people in the US are either living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma.

Survival

Relative survival compares the survival rate of a person diagnosed with a disease to that of a person without the disease. The most recent survival data available may not fully represent the outcomes of all current therapies and, as a result, may underestimate survival to a small degree.

Deaths

Approximately every 9 minutes, someone in the US dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents approximately 156 people each day or more than 6 people every hour.

Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are expected to cause the deaths of an estimated 56,770 people in the US in 2019.

These diseases are expected to account for 9.4 percent of the deaths from cancer in 2019, based on the estimated total of 606,880 cancer deaths.

*Data specified for “blood cancer” include leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and do not include data for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs)

Leukemia

New Cases

In 2019, 61,780 people are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia.

Prevalence

There are an estimated 399,967 people living with or in remission from leukemia in the US.

Survival

The 5-year relative survival rate for leukemia has more than quadrupled, from 14 percent in whites from 1960 to 1963 (the only data available) to 64.5 percent for all races from 2008 to 2014.

From 2007 to 2013, the five-year relative survival rates overall were

CML - 68.7 percent*

CLL - 86.8 percent

AML - 28.1 percent overall and 68.8 percent for children and adolescents younger than 15 years

ALL - 71.6 percent overall, 90.6 percent for children and adolescents younger than 15 years, and 94.5 percent for children younger than 5 years.

Deaths

In 2019, 22,840 people are expected to die from leukemia (13,150 males and 9,690 females).

From 2011 to 2015, leukemia was the sixth most common cause of cancer deaths in both men and women in the US.

*The survival rate of CML in clinical trials is higher than the survival rate reported here, based on SEER data. It is speculated that close clinical monitoring and better medication adherence in clinical trials are associated with a lower risk of disease progression and higher rates of survival.

Hodgkin (HL) and Non-Hodgkin (NHL) Lymphoma

New Cases

In 2019, there are expected to be 82,310 new cases of lymphoma diagnosed in the US (8,110 cases of HL, 74,200 cases of NHL).

Prevalence

There are an estimated 874,730 people living with, or in remission from, lymphoma in the US.

There are 196,508 people living with or in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma

There are 678,222 people living with or in remission from non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Survival

The 5-year relative survival rate for people with HL has more than doubled, from 40 percent in whites from 1960 to 1963 (the only data available) to 88.4 percent for all races from 2008 to 2014. The 5-year relative survival rate is 93.9 percent for all people with HL who were younger than 45 years at diagnosis.

HL is now considered to be one of the most curable forms of cancer.

The 5-year relative survival rate for people with NHL has risen from 31 percent in whites from 1960 to 1963 (the only data available) to 74.1 percent for all races from 2008 to 2014.

Deaths

In 2019, an estimated 20,970 members of the US population are expected to die from lymphoma (19,970 NHL and 1,000 HL).

Myeloma

New Cases

An estimated 32,110 new cases of myeloma (18,130 males and 13,980 females) are expected to be diagnosed in the US in 2019.

Prevalence

An estimated 124,483 people in the US are living with or in remission from myeloma.

Survival

Five-year relative survival has increased from 12 percent from 1960 to 1963 (for whites, the only data available) to 52.4 percent from 2008 to 2014 (for all races and ethnicities).

The 3-year survival rate as of January 1, 2015, was 66.2 percent (for all races and ethnicities).

The 5-year survival rate is 75.7 percent for people with myeloma who were younger than 45 years at diagnosis.

Deaths

Approximately 12,960 deaths from myeloma are anticipated in 2019.

Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)

New Cases

For the 5-year period from 2011 to 2015, there were 70,056 new cases of MDS throughout the US, averaging an estimated 14,011 cases per year.

Approximately 40,730 cases were diagnosed in males (averaging 8,146 per year) and approximately 29,326 cases were diagnosed in females (averaging 5,865 per year).

Prevalence

The SEER program only recently began maintaining statistics for MDS. Prevalence statistics were not reported by SEER for MDS in 2019 at the time of this publication.

Survival

The SEER program only recently began maintaining statistics for MDS. Survival statistics were not reported by SEER for MDS in 2019 at the time of this publication.

Deaths

The SEER program only recently began maintaining statistics for MDS. Mortality statistics were not reported by SEER for MDS in 2019 at the time of this publication.

Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

New Cases

For the 5-year period from 2011 to 2015, there were 48,296 new cases of MPNs throughout the US, averaging an estimated 9,659 cases per year.

Approximately 23,839 cases were diagnosed in males (averaging 4,768 per year) and approximately 24,457 cases were diagnosed in females (averaging 4,891 per year).

Prevalence

The SEER program only recently began maintaining statistics for MPNs. Prevalence statistics were not reported by SEER for MPNs in 2019 at the time of this publication.

Survival

The SEER program only recently began maintaining statistics for MPNs. Survival statistics were not reported by SEER for MPNs in 2019 at the time of this publication.

Deaths

The SEER program only recently began maintaining statistics for MPNs. Mortality statistics were not reported by SEER for MPNs in 2019 at the time of this publication.

Source:

Facts 2018-2019. Facts 2018-2019 provides updates from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts & Figures 2019 (published online in 2019, https://www.cancer.org/research/cancer-facts-statistics.html) for estimated numbers of new blood cancer cases and estimated numbers of deaths due to blood cancers. The incidence rates, prevalence and mortality data in Facts 2018-2019 reflect the statistics from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program, Cancer Statistics Review (CSR) 1975-2015 (published online in April 2018, www.seer.cancer.gov). National incidence counts are generated from the United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) Public Use Database for 2001-2015 (www.cdc.gov/cancer/uscs/public-use/). Incidence rates by state are provided by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, Cancer in North America: 2011-2015 (published online in June 2018, www.naaccr.org).

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The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services.

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